We Found Our Roots…And A Lot More
My wife, her mother and I went to Ukraine on a roots-finding expedition, my ancestors having originated in the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s province of Galicia, of which Lemberg, now called Lviv, was the capital. Not speaking the language I knew we’d need an interpreter, and having researched the state of the rural roads, knew we’d also need a local driver.
We found a fantastic combination in the multilingual, extremely knowledgeable and convivial Diana Borysenko. Lviv born, she speaks several languages, drives extremely well, and seems completely indefatigable. She’s quite at home researching in the archives, and even more importantly, she can converse very pleasantly with the locals in any small town and find out pretty much anything needed.
We went on two excursions with her seeking my forbearers’ little villages. Trip One took in Zolochiv and Pomorzany, and the next day, Trip Two included Stary Sambor and Dobromyl, plus a quick walking tour of central Lviv.
For those eccentrics among you who like archaic clothing, at my request Diana did some research and found a costumier who made my wife a Victorian ballgown and me a suit from the Regency (Mr. d’Arcy) period. Diana also found a shoemaker who fitted me for a pair of appropriately styled bespoke Hessian boots to complete the outfit. Superb craftsmanship
All in all she’s an absolute treasure with the bonus of very reasonable rates. We cannot recommend her highly enough.